Jose Mourinho has lost the support of 90 per cent of the dressing room before Manchester United sacked him as manager.

The Portuguese was axed on Tuesday and it has emerged that the vast majority of the squad wanted him out of the job.

The club sit 19 points behind Liverpool at the top of the table after they were beaten by their arch rivals on Sunday.

A dressing-room source said Mourinho had "lost 90 per cent of the squad's support" in the wake of the 2-2 draw at Southampton on December 1, which saw them fall further down the Premier League table, reports the Mirror.

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Mourinho has endured a difficult relationship with several members of his squad, most notably United's £89million club record signing Paul Pogba, who was benched for the third successive Premier League game in the 3-1 defeat at Liverpool on Sunday.

Luke Shaw, Anthony Martial, Eric Bailly and others have also been publicly called out by Mourinho, whose "tough-love" management style backfired, with players increasingly disillusioned with him.

The atmosphere at United's Carrington training complex was described as 'toxic' in recent weeks under Mourinho, with the board recognising he need to act now before the club sank even further into crisis.

United confirmed Mourinho's departure in a statement on Tuesday morning.